Excuse the delay…work has me in and out at all sorts of hours so it can be hard to find time to write now. Although…I have been plopped in front of Comrades a lot too, lol. We got our answer to the end of last chapter as well! However, I'll discuss that more below if you care to read my thoughts on the matter. Until then, enjoy this!

…Then Hop on the Deck, and Flop Like a Fish!

Nyx wasn't getting his powers back. Screw him. As Ignis rose, he felt invincible. As he climbed with the daggers, he overshot the ship's rail by fifteen feet but it worked to his advantage. The Magiteks weren't expecting it and so with the seconds it took for them to re-aim, he swapped to his lance and threw it right through the forehead of the closest robot. It sparked out as it glitched and then fell heavily to its knees. Finally landing, Ignis put a foot on its shoulder and pulled the blade out, giving a satisfactory twirl. "Who's next?"

They came at him at once. The Assassin MT's moved incredibly fast with their swords, their arms wind-milling in a blur that would've instantly shredded a normal person. Without the warp-strike, Ignis too would've had difficulty with them. However, now it was easy to throw his spear and capture a line of them right through the middle. With a hard swing towards the ocean, the bots few off, bursting into shrapnel and bolts as they hit the water.

With his area cleared, he ran to an open door which led to a deep stairwell that traversed the entire depth of the ship. The walls were already marked with the signs of Lucian magic and he could hear Noctis and Nyx battling it out several floors down. He threw his polearm directly down the center and quickly snapped his hand to his glasses as he was pulled along with his weapon. As he whipped by the floors, he saw Nyx chuck a Firaga, combusting a group of MT's. Catching sight of Ignis as he went by, he called out, "Don't get comfortable!"

Well, it was too late for that. He blinked though and realized something. Nyx went in first. He should've been ahead of Noctis. So where was…

He saw Noctis on the landing for the seventh floor though as he fell, he suddenly saw him again on the sixth and then the fifth. Noctis fought by randomly snatching one of his armiger weapons out the air and diving in, quickly sweeping a sword on some floors and sometimes firing a barrage of crossbow arrows on another. Either way, the landing of each staircase was mostly cleared in seconds by the time he went to the next. What remained then would be handled by Nyx. Noctis gave a thumbs-up to his chamberlain to show that he was doing just fine and feeling assured, Ignis continued his descent.

He hit the floor with a force that he feared would break his bones, but surprisingly, he absorbed the impact well. He pulled the lance that had preceded him out the metal floor and quickly looked around. It was hot enough to make the Infernian feel right at home down here; it had to be the engine room. He ran further in, not sure what he was looking for…until he heard the familiar clank of MTs walking. Ducking down behind a wall of machinery, he peeked around and noticed that a rather large and obviously conspicuous hoard had gathered in front of a row of pistons. Ahh, so the Nifs had thought ahead to protect the main functions of the ship. There were too many for him to plow right through so he'd need to lure some away and take them out quietly. This was perfectly fine, though: as a Kingsmen, espionage was his middle name.

He pulled from his breast pocket a whistle that would only be heard by the keenest of ears and was just about to blow when he heard from several floors up, "Ignis, don't you even think you're going to beat my kill count!"

Aw, fuck.

Nyx warp-struck hard into the ground and unlike his own, this one reverberated all through the walls. Being nimble and quiet was what Ignis did best but as a field soldier, Nyx had rarely had to exercise the same caution. Still…had his Kingsmen training taught him nothing?

Don't ask stupid questions, Ignis, he reproached himself. A second later, he heard another thud and Noctis asked, "What'd I miss?" At the sound of the first arrival though, the MT's had run towards their location and now they were staring down a group of no less than fifty. "Oh. Aw, fuck."

Indeed. Stepping out from his hiding spot, Ignis blocked the MT's retreat. Snapping out his polearm, he called out, "I'll take you up on your challenge, Nyx. The one who loses pays the inevitable tab at the Maagho."

"The wha?" Nyx called out.

Ignis forgot he'd never been to Altissia. "It's a pub belonging to an old friend of the king's," he clarified.

"…Can I join in?" Noctis' apprehensive voice drifted to him. "I mean, I'm twenty now—"

"Drinking age in Altissia is twenty-one," Ignis stopped him.

"SERIOUSLY?! Are they trying to play with my emotions?"

"Simmer down, Simba," Nyx consoled him, raising a hand filled with Thundaga. "We're still in Lucian waters and your dad has a nice cache of wines on the boat—"

"Diplomatic business first!" Ignis corrected him, snapping his gloves into place. "We will not have the prince of Lucis embarrassing us by arriving to his meeting with the first secretary drunk. Now, are we doing this or not?"

"Oh, we're doin' it!" Nyx returned to task and let loose the palm of lightning.

Both Ignis and Noctis immediately screamed out, falling to the floor, along with most of the MT's.

Nyx watched them in horror before rushing first to Noct's side. "You've got to be kidding me! Neither of you have on a Ring of Resistance? You're supposed to wear it at all times!"

"W-who uses l-lightning on a sh-ship made of metal?!" Ignis stammered while trying to get back up. His legs shook harder than a newborn lamb's though and it was all he could do to get to just his knees.

"You didn't answer my question!" Nyx deflected, shaking Noctis. He let out a tense breath when the prince finally opened his eyes, though tiny electrical currents were still running through his hair.

Ignis finally got up and angrily used Firaga to clear the final remaining MT's who had initially only been stunned by the attack. "I'm already wearing bangles to increase my agility and strength. You know too many accessories causes adverse reactions. I figured it was common sense to not use lightning here, but had I known I was going to be made to suffer fools gladly, I certainly would've worn mine!"

He stalked over to Noctis and pulled him up. "You're not that hurt, Your Highness, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop dawdling."

Indeed, while Noctis' clothes were singed, he stood rather easily. Having a natural affiliation with the Crystal had lessened the damage to him. However, he still pulled out a compact mirror and examined himself. "My hair looks awesome! I think I'm going to create a line of hair accessories that mimic electrical waves, that way people can wear styles like this. What'cha think, Specs?"

"Don't quit your day job," both Nyx and Ignis replied. The prince was crestfallen.

Going back into the engine room, Ignis stood before the row of massive pistons as they chugged in circles. He flitted between methods of sabotage before equally settling on Thundaga. This time, he pulled off a silver bracelet and put it in his pocket, drawing out a silver ring instead. He slipped it on his wedding finger (something he also did when not wanting to be hit on when out guarding Noctis) and called over his shoulder, "I suggest you put yours on as well, Noct."

Once he was assured that Noctis was also wearing his, he tossed the sphere of magic in the air and ran. The explosion ended up being bigger than he estimated and only by his newfound warp-strike did he make it safely away, however, there was now a new problem. The ground floor instantly began to take on water at an alarming rate. Heavy water…with electricity. "Everyone back up to the deck!" he commanded. He waited for the other two to warp away first before following them back up the spiraling staircase.

Once at the top, they ran to the rail and looked below. Without having been anchored, the Sea Biscuit had drifted away, though thankfully it had moved further behind the ship where no canon fire could reach it. The warship was unattended now anyways. Grateful again for the loaned powers, he warped to the king's boat, just seconds behind the other two. He instantly went to the wheel and flipped the craft around, gunning it in the direction of Altissia.

As they moved away, they could see the ship in the distance as it began to sink, a long funnel of smoke rising from the water. Noctis cheered at their victory but Ignis noticed that Nyx had become oddly silent. "A gil for your thoughts?" he asked him.

Nyx opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, and then cast a discreet look at Noctis. Still cheering, the prince made his way below deck (likely to get the aforementioned wine), leaving the other two alone. "That ship alone had more artillery than all of Lucis. We should've kept it and used it back on the Nifs. We've been on defense only with them for years. We're never going to win like this if we don't have a way to strike offensively. And we damn sure ain't getting Galahd back at this rate…" He suddenly clamped his mouth shut and looked away.

Ignis didn't know what to say. It'd been an unwritten agreement ages ago for Lucis, Tenebrae and Accordo to not stock an unnecessary surplus of weapons but nobody had expected the new kids on the block to not play fairly. What had previously been deemed as unnecessary was now all too in demand but it was too late. All three countries were only still standing because of Niflheim's cruel mercy. It was only a matter of time before they swung the final blow.

As he watched the ship disappear from sight behind him, Ignis wondered if it truly would've made any difference at all.

So, regarding those missing powers of the Glaives…according to a document you unlock in Comrades and a random exposition giving NPC, it would seem the Glaives can draw from the powers of the old rulers as well. With little explanation given, it seems Luna's summoning of Leviathan is what unleashed these locked powers, restoring them to the Glaives.

…But Cor is still without powers in Comrades. The NPC's and his bio in the game mention this (and are sure to still praise how awesome he is even without them). But why not? Did he reject receiving them again as a self-inflicted punishment for not being able to save Regis? Or have I missed something? I've yet to unlock the "true" ending as of this moment but I doubt that'll answer this question.

Okay, enough babbling within this chapter about this. Again, feel free to chime in with your reviews (oh, I'm so shameless :)